He needed to get on his back. That was it. He needed to get on his back. He tried to roll his body over to the right.
“Hee-hee, hah…!”
The enemy let out a strained laugh and swung the hammer down.
The hammer slammed into the center of Sousei’s chest.
His head went blank. Or perhaps it became pitch-black. Or complete darkness.
…Death…?
Had he died?
No…
He hadn’t.
He was still alive. He hadn’t died, unfortunately.
“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh…”
Someone laughed. Who was laughing?
Who…?
He didn’t know. That was strange.
“Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee…”
That voice.
…A woman…?
That’s right. The voice. That voice was…
Kinoshita…?
No. Sousei remembered the voice that had yelled “Fuck! Fuck!” He remembered Riamu Kinoshita’s voice.
“You killed my brother.”
This voice was different. It was a woman’s voice.
“Fuck you!” she screamed, swinging the hammer.
“Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrgggghhh…!”
The sound Sousei let out was more of an agonized groan than a scream. It was a distinctly hopeless cry of pain. His lower abdomen. He’d been hit in the groin. A vital area, especially for men. It wasn’t necessarily fatal, but it was a horrifyingly vital area.
“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh…”
It was a strange laugh. The woman might have been trying to hold back a burst of laughter. She was trying to stifle it but couldn’t hold it back.
“I don’t know who you are, but…” she said, tapping Sousei’s head with her hammer, “I won’t kill you. Even if I do, you won’t die, right? I’ll take you alive.”
…Two of them…
At some point, Sousei had been turned onto his back.
There were two of them… There were two Riamu Kinoshitas from the start…
His left arm moved. He could move it.
Her brother… The one I killed…was her…
There were two Kinoshitas.
Two people who looked like carbon copies of each other. Brother and sister.
But even so, they looked way too similar. Perhaps they had been twins? Fraternal twins, since they were different sexes.
…That makes sense… So…that’s why…
Kinoshita was supposed to have left his hideout that day, but had been inside for some reason. It wasn’t that he’d teleported. The brother had gone out, but the sister had stayed at the hideout. Maybe she’d called him back, or perhaps he’d sensed something was off and returned to the house. Sousei had killed the brother. The sister had probably hidden or buried her brother’s corpse, and that’s why they hadn’t been able to find it.
“Hey…,” Sousei called to Kinoshita’s sister, then opened his mouth wide. He stuck his tongue out at her.
He wasn’t making fun of her about anything. If he bit off his tongue, he’d suffocate unless he was treated quickly.
“Hah-hah!”
She let out a short laugh, then buried the hammer in Sousei’s mouth. She hadn’t hit him with it, but instead turned the head sideways and shoved it into his mouth. His tongue was half crushed by the hammer.
He wouldn’t be able to bite his tongue off to kill himself like this. It was an unreliable method in any case.
Sousei reached his left hand toward his right arm to take the concealed weapon from that sleeve, but he had absolutely no feeling in his right arm. He had no idea where his right arm was. It seemed farther away than he thought. He wouldn’t be able to reach it by just stretching his left hand a little. It would be impossible unless he turned his body over to the right. Or pulled his right arm closer. His left hand, or rather, his right arm wasn’t doing what Sousei wanted it to.
Why not? Move. Move like you’re supposed to. Please move.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Sousei had been noticed while he was moving sluggishly. Kinoshita’s sister pulled the hammer out of his mouth and brought it down hard on Sousei’s left arm with the skill of a carpenter hitting a nail. Hitting many nails in deeply and precisely. In no time at all, Sousei’s left arm had been reduced to merely an object that produced pain.
“Well…”
She looked down at Sousei and turned the hammer around. The inside of the clock tower should have been pitch-black, but Sousei could vaguely see the face of Kinoshita’s sister. Perhaps it was being illuminated by the tiny amount of light shining in through the opening.
“…I have no choice but to talk to the professor…”
She was muttering something, but Sousei was only able to catch the word “professor.”
Is this what it comes down to? That’s disappointing. This is the end? These injuries are horrible. I might die if I’m not treated for them. If I die, I could just do it again. I’ll have more chances until I’ve died a hundred and nineteen more times. What would that be like? Isn’t it possible that she’d keep on torturing me, neither letting me live nor die? If that’s the case, I’d prefer to die a hundred and nineteen times and get it over with. I’m okay with it being the end. There were fun things, too. I had fun today. Asumin. Moena. Yukisada. And Hitsujimoto. Thank you. Good-bye. Ah, I kind of sound like Hitsujimoto. Thank you, everyone. I’m sorry I couldn’t say good-bye. I’ll be the first to go. Good-bye. Is this the end? The end. The thought of that makes me both happy and sad. I wanted to have another potato chip party. I wish I could have seen you tomorrow. I wanted to say, “I had fun yesterday,” but that’ll never happen. That day will never come. There’s no tomorrow for me.
Sousei’s mind raced.
It was fun. It was too much fun. This is punishment for that. It’s my punishment. It can’t be helped. That’s what Rio said. That’s right. It can’t be helped. I shouldn’t have killed her. Not just Rio. There were probably other people I’ve killed that I shouldn’t have. Lots of people who I could’ve saved, but abandoned. That’s why this is happening. I’m being punished. But please let it just be me. I’ll take my punishment, so please let tomorrow come for Hitsujimoto. I won’t be able to go to school anymore, but just think that I’ve got a cold or something and don’t worry about me. Asumin and Moena will probably talk to you, so try to say something back without being shy, Miss Hitsujimoto. You can take it one step at a time, but try talking about the potato chip party with Yukisada as well. Ah, I would have liked to have been there, too.
“There are no options.”
Hitsujimoto.
“Not for you.”
Why?
He could hear Kuchina’s voice.
Kinoshita’s sister had fallen like a lifeless ragdoll. Kuchina was standing behind her, holding her right hand in front of her body. Her white hand. It was bare. She wasn’t wearing her gloves. Had she touched Kinoshita’s sister with that hand? Perhaps she’d touched the back of her neck or something.
Oh, Kuchina was holding two bags. One of them was her own. The other one probably belonged to someone else.
Kuchina walked around the fallen body of Kinoshita’s sister and approached Sousei. She squatted and looked at him. Looked down at him.
Stared at him with those eyes.
“Will those injuries heal if you die?” Kuchina asked in a low, flat voice.
Would he be able to speak in this state? Could he form words? He wasn’t certain, but he said, “Yes.”
“I see.”
Her white hand drew closer. Her hand covered his eyes.
✦ ✦ ✦
And then Sousei literally came back to life.
Kinoshita’s sister was dead by his feet, and there was a bag by his hand. It was Sousei’s.
Kuchina wasn’t there. She had killed Kinoshita’s sister, then Sousei, and left.
If he went after her, he might be able to see her leaving, but he didn’t plan to do that. He looked up at the square of night sky at the top of the clock tower and mumbled something.
“See you tomorrow.”